Promoting the parish for the benefit of residents

Newsletter March 2012

East Woodhay Society

Lost & Found

Has anyone lost a chicken, which was found in Tile Barn near St Thomas’ school on Tuesday? She is currently in the old run at the school, fed and watered with fresh bedding. If you have, please contact Sally Fenwick on either sallyfenwick@mac.com or 07836 203204.

Social Events

Talks

Our first talk of the season will be by Sir George Young on ‘My Experiences as Leader of the House’ at Woolton Hill Church Hall on the Friday 13th April starting at 8.00pm. There is no charge for EWS members, but non-members can either pay £5 or join the Society. Light refreshments will be provided.

Crafty Craft Race

We are now well on our way to entering our all-female team for the Crafty Craft Race on the 7th May to be led by Elizabeth Gillespie. The craft is coming along and should be in good shape for the event. We now have a full team, but would like to hear from you if you want to be part of the fun.

Bike Rides Walks

We have arranged a series of bike rides as follows:-

25th March – Short, easy off-road (but only just…). Local tracks and road, distance 12 miles, just over one hour, start 10:30, optional drink/lunch at the Rampant Cat.

The next walk will be the Daffodil Walk, which proved to be very popular last year. The daffodils are now well on their way with many in full bloom and others about to emerge. As they are coming out at different times we have decided to go for Sunday 25th at 3pm. Meet at the start of the footpath in Trade Street next to Cooper’s Cottage. Suitable refreshments will be provided free of charge at the half way mark by East Woodhay Hall.

Speeding – Is it an issue you would like to see more money spent on?

Last year the East Woodhay Parish Council spent money on hiring an SLR electronic speed warning sign. A number of people think they are a good idea, but:-

do they make you more aware of the speed limits;

do they reduce speed at the time and in the longer term;

is the cost justified?

To repeat the exercise will cost about £1,500, so do you think it is money well spent? Please let us know and we will then advise the EWPC of your views. You might like to look at the results of the previous exercise, which do not show a very good trend.

Whilst the SLR sign records the number of times it is activated (by a vehicles exceeding a set speed) it doesn’t record actual speed data. This type of sign can be activated more than once by the same vehicle, either when the car is picked up some distance away and then again up close or by a vehicle travelling at approximately the activation level. Conversely, two vehicles travelling close together may only trigger one activation. Whilst the figure cannot therefore be read as an exact record of speeding vehicles it is of value when comparing sites on a like for like basis. Below are the number of activations over the trial period.

W/c Road Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4

15/08/11 C5 between school 3,938 4,309 4,628 4,361

12/09/11 C5 between Trade St & Church Rd 1,270 1,293 1,267 1,256

10/10/11 Church Road opp Courtyard Cottage 2,390 2,298 2,026 2,249

07/11/11 Tile Barn Road nr Woolton Lodge Gdns 618 669 652 674

05/12/11 Ball Hill Road near the Furze Bush 3,661 3,794 3,485 5,043

Totals 11,877 12,363 12,058 13,583

Police Reports

This is the crime summary for the month of Februaryfor the parishes of:

A farm building in Brocks Green, Ecchinswell was entered and copper piping stolen.

Reduce anti-social behaviour especially around Bishops Green

A front garden garden fence and window has been damaged in Heathlands, Penwood;

A male from Eagle Road, Bishops Green has been prosecuted for possession of drugs;

Damage was caused to a garden gate in Osprey Close. It is believed this was in an attempt to steal an off road motorcycle from the rear garden. Nothing was stolen.

Reduce speeding across the beat

Speed enforcement has been carried out at the 30mph limit entering Ecchinswell at morning rush hour times. No drivers were prosecuted, but warnings issued to numerous drivers

Other incidents of note

A male and female from the Southampton area have been arrested for stealing diesel from Trucks parked overnight in lay-bys on A34. They have been charged and remanded into custody prior to trial.

A padlock was damage to a farmyard in Ashmansworth

Attempted Burglary – Woolton Hill

On the morning of Wednesday 14th March a window was forced open at a property in the Blindmans Gate area of Woolton Hill.

Please ensure that all windows and doors are secure and please report any suspicious activity to Hampshire Constabulary by calling 101.

Heath End Playground Facilities

Elizabeth Gillespie presented her proposals on behalf of the Society, which were accepted by East Woodhay Parish Council, for a new ‘nest’ swing and ‘springer’ for installation at the Heath End Playground. The Society has raised a significant sum of money towards the cost of the new equipment, with the Parish Council agreeing to pay the residue.

Woolton Hill Playground Facilities

Now that the Heath End has been decided, the attention is now being focussed on Woolton Hill. A MUGA was originally proposed, but this may not be the best option. At the next East Woodhay Parish Meeting it is intended to review different proposals, so we will update you in the next newsletter. Meanwhile, please let us know what you would like to see. One suggestion is to have bench tables with games such as chess built in, often seen on the Continent.

Queen’s Diamond Jubilee

As a celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, Highclere are having a Flower Festival “Jewels of the Crown” in Highclere Church from 1st – 5th June.

The Church will be open over the four days Saturday 2nd June – Tuesday 5th June 10am – 6pm (i.e. over the Bank Holiday weekend). See further details in Parish magazines and on the www.wooltonhill.com website. Entry is FREE

Children from our four local primary schools, who have been asked to participate in the Art Competition to design a Diamond Jubilee logo, will have their entries displayed in the Dunlop Room adjoining the Church. Winning designs are going to be printed on T-shirts and tea towels, which will be sold as commemorative souvenirs of the occasion.

Wednesday 28th March 2012 – The Red Kite in Hampshire

A reminder that Keith Betton, will talk about his work on the distribution of red kites that have been observed over our chalk uplands at Kingsclere Methodist Church Hall, George Street at 7.30pm. For further information, contact Mervyn Grist on 01264 358737. The suggested donation is £2.50.

May 27th 2012 – National Garden Scheme -Stockcross Village

Five gardens in Stockcross will be open for charity from 1-6 pm, combined admission £5. The gardens are Stockcross House, Rookwood Farm House, Highfields, Pump Cottage and Springfield Cottage.

Home-made teas will be available at the Village Hall.

Stockcross House garden is dominated by the impressive St John’s church tower and is designed to create vistas of the tower from every part of the garden. Rookwood Farmhouse, a two acre valley garden has an impressive arrangement of two ponds and connecting cascade whilst Pump Cottage has a pretty cottage garden set against a woodland backdrop and retains the original Victorian pump house, (Stockcrosss being one of the first villages to have a pumped water supply). Springfield Cottage is a delightful thatched cottage with a terraced garden created from a wilderness and Highfields is a small immaculately maintained family garden. Parking is in the Glebe field; Highfields, Stockcross House, Pump Cottage and teas at the village hall are all close by. Springfield and Rookwood are just down the road and, if you prefer not to walk, extra parking is available at Rookwood. Please note that wheelchair access is not available at Springfield Cottage and that therew is gravel & some steep slopes at Stockcross House & Rookwood Farmhouse.

Highclere Film Club, Highclere Village Hall

Thursday 22nd March The Help (12A) 146mins During the civil rights movement of the 1960s, an aspiring author (Stone) decides to write a book detailing the African-American maid’s point of view on the white families for which they work, and the hardships they go through on a daily basis. Emma Stone, Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer star. BAFTA and Oscar nominated.

The Society currently has 192 members. If you would like to join please print off a copy of the form on our website www.wooltonhill.com/ews_news and send it via email to eastwoodhaysociety@wooltonhill.com. With our ever increasing membership, we would welcome some of our members volunteering to join our committee. If you would like to become more involved please send us an email.